They start work at 4 am to feed Mumbai. Now, BEST is shutting them out over ‘smell’

Every morning, Kunda Chandrakant Chachar boards the 4.10 am BEST bus from Khar Danda to Sassoon Dock, where she buys 8-10 kg of fish to sell at the market opposite Matunga’s Citylight cinema. After transporting the fish by tempo, she sells it in two shifts, from 7.

30 am to 2.30 pm and 5 pm to 9 pm, fitting household chores into the afternoon break. For decades, this has been the routine of Koli fisherwomen in Khar Danda, many of whom depend on Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses to reach Mumbai’s fish markets.

But ever since the BEST Undertaking replaced non-AC buses on routes A-51, A-56 and A-200 with AC services in October 2025, the women allege they have increasingly been denied entry over claims they smell of fish. “Conductors block the doors, saying the smell will inconvenience other commuters,” Chachar says.

The women point to the irony of being turned away in a city where fish is a staple and fisherwomen supply its markets. Sassoon Dock reportedly handles nearly 150 tonnes of fish and seafood daily, with nearly 80 per cent of the catch sold and transported across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.